Cove funds proposed -- as promised
Deirdre Newman
CRYSTAL COVE -- Cottage supporters breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday
when they learned that Gov. Gray Davis kept intact budget funding
reportedly earmarked for the restoration of the state park’s historic
district.
In his budget proposal, Davis set aside $9.2 million of Proposition 40
funds for the restoration project, said Laura Davick, founder of the
Alliance to Rescue Crystal Cove. Proposition 40, passed in March,
provides for a total of $2.6 billion to help protect California’s air,
land and water for future generations.
Supporters say it has been a long struggle to procure funds to restore
the 46 dilapidated cottages on the beach. And they are especially
heartened that Davis withheld the budget ax in dealing with a
$23.6-billion revenue shortfall.
“I believed that this would be coming, but still, with what’s
happening with the governor’s budget and the tremendous amounts of cuts,
it was a somewhat risky situation,” Davick said. “It further demonstrates
that Davis is committed to the preservation of the historic district as
he has said.”
When Proposition 40 passed, state parks agency officials promised that
the cottages at Crystal Cove would be high on the list of projects
recommended for use with those funds.
In addition to the $9.2 million, the revised budget also allocates
$96,000 from Proposition 40 for sewers and $800,000 from Proposition 12
for El Morro State Beach, which hosts the trailer park slated to be
evicted in 2004.
The state has spent about $1 million to start renovating the cottages,
and the California Coastal Commission agreed to hand over $2.8 million,
but the major work awaits a hefty cash infusion as the project is
expected to cost between $12 million and $20 million.
If the state park funds last until the final budget, it will expedite
the restoration process, said Bette Anderson, president of Village
Laguna, a 30-year organization dedicated to preserving Laguna Beach’s
character and environment.
“We will be able to move forward with preserving the cottages at
Crystal Cove and make them available to the public, which is a wonderful
goal all along,” Anderson said.
* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)
574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 deirdre.newman@latimes.comf7 .
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